Smash Your Fitness Barriers With Heart-Rate Training

Become a better hiker. Build speed, endurance, and strength all through heart-rate training.

Review by: Lisa Jhung

Share

Share:

Share:

Photo by Chuck Haney

If you exercise regularly but never get in better shape, it’s time to check your pulse. Training at an elevated heart rate can noticeably improve your cardiovascular fitness. “The simple act of changing your pace strengthens your heart,” says personal trainer and professional adventure racer Michael Tobin. “And strengthening your heart develops stamina and endurance.” Runners and cyclists have used heart-rate monitors (HRMs) for years to fine-tune their workouts. As a hiker, you can benefit from these tools as well, whether your goal is to cover more miles or tackle a multi-day trip with less fatigue.

Get Equipped Even the most basic HRMs, like the Timex Ironman Triathlon Heart Rate Monitor ($90, timex.com) include a chest strap to measure your heart rate and a watch to record and display the results. More advanced systems like the Polar RS800sd ($500, polarusa.com) record heart rate, speed, distance, and elevation data, which can then be downloaded to training software on your PC.

Best prize ever: You could win ALL 13 of our 2015 Editors' Choice Award-winning products. That includes an Osprey Packs, a NEMO Equipment sleeping bag, a Big Agnes tent, a Sea to Summit - Outdoor Gear X-Pot, La Sportiva shoes, and a Snow Peak stove. And we still have 7 more products to announce next week! Enter early and often! http://goo.gl/RGcG4o #EC2015

#EC2015 Gold award alert: When the Snow Peak GigaPower stove came out in 1999, we gave it an Editors' Choice award. All this time later, it's still tiny, powerful, and affordable, and get this: it costs even less. See why it's our latest #EC2015 winner.
Read the review: http://bit.ly/1DAHv8A
Watch video: http://bit.ly/1LSXHWx
Enter to win one, along with the rest of this year's EC gear: http://goo.gl/RGcG4o